BMC to encourage owners to pay dues digitally for better transparency

Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), which is promoting digital payment for better transparency, is encouraging the owners of holdings to adopt digital payment to pay taxes.

BMC is also planning to make people aware about the use of website www.odishaonline.gov.in so that it would be more convenient for people to pay taxes through online.

Currently, under the e-Municipality platform, services like holding tax, trade licence, birth and death certificates, the collection of water cess and urban transport in city buses are coming under the digital services.

However, except for the trade licence, others are getting less acquaintance on the digital front.

DC Revenue Srimanta Mishra said, “Currently, the city has 1,02,502 holdings or houses, but a very low percentage of holding taxpayers are paying their holding taxes through online. Once more people come into the digital fold, the collection would be monitored easily and efficiently with better transparency by way of cashless transactions.”

The city, with many payment options like social security projects covering Old Age Pension, Widow Pension, Persons With Disability, Harishchandra Sahayata, National Family Benefit Scheme, Chief Minister’s Relief Fund through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) including payment to vendors, contractors and others have made them operate under the digital mode.

BMC is now planning to go for the Common Payment Card System (CPCS) with which several city-level services would be digitally linked for payment with a single card. Under the Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited, the SPV for Smart City work, the CPC would be launched shortly with ICICI Bank, which would be a milestone for entering in an era of present world with a manifold and magnificent effect.